March 14, 1986 ~ Singer, bassist Este Haim, full name Este Arielle Haim, born in San Fernando Valley, California, USA ~ Member of sibling outfit Haim alongside Alana Haim and Danielle Haim, drawing critical comparison to Fleetwood Mac and the Bangles. The band debuted in 2013 with the album Days Are Gone and has recorded consistently since. They are best known for songs such as Forever, The Wire, Want You Back, A Little Of Your Love, Now I'm In It, and Gasoline featuring Taylor Swift
March 14, 1975 ~ Jazz trombonist Gianluca Petrella born in Bari, Italy ~ Leader and sideman. Started his career backing Roberto Ottaviano in the early-1990s. Actively recording as a leader since 2001, including with his group Indigo 4. Has collaborated with Joey Calderazzo, Jimmy Owens, Greg Osby, Paolo Fresu, Carla Bley, Pat Metheny, Marc Ducret, Manu Dibango, Nicola Conte, Bobby Previte, and Enrico Rava
March 14, 1970 ~ Guitarist Andy Patalan born in USA ~ Best known as guitarist of alternative rock band Sponge, playing alongside his brother bassist, producer Tim Patalan. Founding member of Solid Frog and of Throttlebody. Has briefly worked with Brownsville Station, serving in the band from 2011 to 2013
March 14, 1970 ~ Singer, guitarist, songwriter Kristian Bush born in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ~ Best known as half of Sugarland, the other half being singer Jennifer Nettles. Also worked with Billy Graham, Storyteller, Ellis Paul, Laura Bell Bundy, Matt Nathanson, the dB's, Lucy Hale, Kristina Train, Larkin Poe, Canaan Smith, Lauren Alaina, Jaida Dreyer, Alana Springsteen, Byron Gallimore, and Dark Water
March 14, 1969 ~ Mandolinist Matt Flinner born in Pueblo, Colorado, USA ~ Worked with Sugarbeat, Modern Mandolin Quartet, David Grier, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Darol Anger, Tim O'Brien, Trey Anastasio, Darrell Scott, Frank Vignola, Alison Brown, Missy Raines, the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, and the Ying Quartet
March 14, 1966 ~ Singer, guitarist Raul Midón born in Embudo, New Mexico, USA ~ In-demand session musician worked with Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, and Julio Iglesias. Released his major-label solo debut album, State Of Mind, in 2005 which featured guest appearances from Stevie Wonder and Jason Mraz. Subsequent albums would feature guests such as Vinnie Colaiuta, Dean Parks, Paulinho Da Costa, Dianne Reeves, Marcus Miller, and Richard Bona
March 14, 1965 ~ Bassist, guitarist, singer, producer, engineer Billy Sherwood, full name William Wyman Sherwood, born in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA ~ Best known as member of progressive rock band Yes, starting in 1997. Would take over bass duties in 2015, following the death of original bassist Chris Squire. Also worked with Asia, World Trade, Lodgic, Circa and with Yoso and has released several solo albums starting with The Big Peace in 1997
March 14, 1957 ~ Jazz vocalist, composer Vanessa Rubin born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA ~ Active since the early-1980s, Rubin has performed with Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Barron, Lionel Hampton, Mercer Ellington, Cecil Bridgewater, Etta Jones, Toots Thielemans, Steve Turre, Cedar Walton, Grover Washington Jr, Herbie Hancock, and Don Braden. As a solo artist Rubin has been releasing records since the early-1990s
March 14, 1954 ~ Country singer, songwriter Jann Browne born in Anderson, Indiana, USA ~ Member of Western swing group Asleep At The Wheel from 1981 through 1983. As a solo artist best known for You Ain't Down Home and Tell Me Why, both taken of her 1990 Tell Me Why and both reaching the top 20 of the country charts
March 14, 1954 ~ Jazz guitarist, composer Nick Webb born in Manchester, UK ~ Folk-influenced acoustic guitarist. Best known as half of smooth jazz duo Acoustic Alchemy, the other half being flamenco guitarist Simon James, known for recording in-flight music for Virgin Airlines transatlantic flights and several albums starting with Red Dust And Spanish Lace released in 1987 ~ Webb passed away in 1998
March 14, 1952 ~ Drummer Akira Tana born in San Jose, California, USA ~ Leader and sideman. Tana has worked with artists such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Helen Humes, Milt Jackson, Sonny Rollins, George Russell, Sonny Stitt, the Heath Brothers, the Asian-American Jazz Orchestra, Charles Aznavour, Ran Blake, Ray Bryant, Al Cohn, Chris Connor, Art Farmer, Carl Fontana, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Jim Hall, Jimmy Heath, Lena Horne, JJ Johnson, Warne Marsh, Tete Montoliu, James Moody, Spike Robinson, Jimmy Rowles, Zoot Sims, Cedar Walton, Frank Wess, and Claudio Roditi
March 14, 1947 ~ Jazz pianist, composer Roy Budd, full name Roy Frederick Budd, born in South Norwood, UK ~ Best known as film composer including for Get Carter and Wild Geese. Has worked with Peter McGurk, Trevor Tomkins, Chris Karan, Pete Morgan, Dave Holland, Tony Hatch, Johnny Harris, Larry Adler, Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Charles Aznavour, and the London Symphony Orchestra ~ Budd passed away in 1993
March 14, 1945 ~ Singer, songwriter Michael Martin Murphey born in Dallas, Texas, USA ~ Western, country singer. Known for songs such as What's Forever For, Long Line Of Love, What She Wants, Don't Count The Rainy Days, Maybe This Time, and his best known Wildfire and Caroline In The Pines
March 14, 1944 ~ Conductor, violinist, composer Boris Brott born in Montreal, Canada ~ One of Canada's internationally most acclaimed conductors having conducted on stages around the world including New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Covent Garden. Founder and artistic director of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada ~ Brott passed away in 2022
March 14, 1938 ~ Drummer Angus MacLise born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA ~ Original drummer of the Velvet Underground, quitting the band before their first paid gig to be replaced by Moe Tucker ~ MacLise passed away in 1979
March 14, 1934 ~ Actor, singer Nikos Xanthopoulos born in Athens, Greece ~ Best known as an actor, dubbed “the child of folk” for mainly depicting men from the lower working classes. Roles portraying him as a singer and bouzouki player forced him to learn how to sing, eventually singing over 300 songs in 30 movies. As a singer Xanthopoulos has released nine albums and over 50 singles ~ Xanthopoulos passed away in 2023
March 14, 1934 ~ Jazz, hard bop, soul jazz organist, pianist Shirley Scott born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA ~ Leader and sidewoman. Married to Stanley Turrentine from 1960 to 1971, with whom she also worked. Also closely associated with Eddie Lockjaw Davis, notably on the late-1950s hit In The Kitchen. Has collaborated with Lem Winchester, Oliver Nelson, Kenny Burrell, Gary McFarland, Buddy Tate, Clark Terry, King Curtis, Hank Crawford, Mildred Anderson, Jimmy Forrest, Al Grey, Joe Newman, and Jimmy Rushing ~ Scott passed away in 2002
March 14, 1933 ~ Jazz, pop, R&B trumpeter, conductor, bandleader, arranger, producer, songwriter Quincy Jones, full name Quincy Delight Jones Jr, born in Chicago, Illinois, USA ~ One of the most revered musical icons of the 20th century with a career spanning eight decades, earning him over two dozen Grammy Awards. Rose to prominence in the 1950s as jazz arranger and bandleader, branching out into pop the following decade. Jones has recorded some 50 albums since the mid-1950s, and is particularly acclaimed for the albums This Is How I Feel About Jazz, The Birth Of A Band, Walking In Space, Gula Matari, and Smackwater Jack. Well known soundtracks composed or produced by Jones include The Pawnbroker, The Italian Job, The Wiz, and the highly acclaimed The Color Purple. To pop audiences, Jones is best known for his 1981 album The Dude, which featured musicians such as Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock, and James Ingram, and for producing Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad, three of Michael Jackson's biggest albums. Over the course of his lengthy career, Jones has collaborated with numerous artists including Lionel Hampton, Gigi Gryce, Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, Betty Carter, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie (Afro), Dinah Washington, Roy Haynes, Ray Charles (The Genius of Ray Charles), Louis Jordan, Lesley Gore, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin (Spirit In The Dark), Billy Preston, Paul Simon, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, and the Brothers Johnson ~ Jones passed away in 2024
March 14, 1927 ~ James Cavallo, commonly known as R&B saxophonist Jimmy Cavallo, born in Syracuse, New York, USA ~ Shortly after his discharge from the Army, around the end of World War II, founded the Jimmy Cavallo Quartet, one of the first white R&B blues bands, playing originals as well as covers of Wynonie Harris and Louis Jordan. Best known for fronting Jimmy Cavallo & his House Rockers, noted for appearing in the 1956 film Rock Rock Rock playing The Big Beat and the film's title track Rock Rock Rock. The band is also noted for being the first white band to play the Apollo Theatre in Harlem promoting the movie ~ Cavallo passed away in 2019
March 14, 1926 ~ Singer Lita Roza, full name Lilian Patricia Lita Roa, born in Liverpool, UK ~ Most closely associated with her 1953 hit How Much Is That Doggie In The Window, written by Bob Merrill and an American No.1 hit for Patti Page. Roza would take it to the top of the UK charts in 1953, making her the first British solo singer to reach No.1. Ironically, Roza herself hated the song but was pressured to by label exectutives and vowed to never sing it again, and she never did. Long-time British PM Margaret Thatcher named Roza's hit her all-time favorite song ~ Roza passed away in 2008
March 14, 1919 ~ Jazz, big band, orchestral jazz pianist, orchestrator, composer, arranger Luther Henderson, full name Luther Lincoln Henderson Jr, born in Kansas City, Missouri, USA ~ Has worked with Lena Horne, Jule Styne, Richard Rodgers and Duke Ellington. Best known for his Broadway-work, serving as orchestrator, arranger, musical director on over 50 musicals including Ellington's Beggar's Holiday, Funny Girl, No No Nanette and Ain't Misbehavin'. Has worked as arranger for artists such as Robert Goulet, Nancy Wilson, Sandler & Young, Eartha Kitt, Diahann Carroll, and Liza Minnelli ~ Henderson passed away in 2003
March 14, 1914 ~ William John Owen Rowbotham, commonly known as actor, songwriter Bill Owen, born in Acton, UK ~ Best known for portraying Compo Simmonite in the BBC comedy series Last Of The Summer Wine for over two decades. Also enjoyed some success as a songwriter, songs written by Owen recorded by Kenny Damon, Engelbert Humperdinck, Cliff Richard (Marianne), Sacha Distel, and Ken Dodd ~ Rowbotham passed away in 1999
March 14, 1914 ~ Folk singer, songwriter Lee Hays, full name Lee Elhardt Hays, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA ~ Best known as member of pivotal folk group the Weavers. Wrote or co-wrote some of the band's best known including Wasn't That A Time, If I Had A Hammer, and Kisses Sweeter Than Wine. Previously also a member of its predecessor the Almanac Singers. Hays has also recorded a series of children's albums with the Baby Sitters ~ Hays passed away in 1981
March 14, 1912 ~ Jazz, swing, big band, traditional pop bandleader Les Brown, full name Lester Raymond Brown, born in Reinerton, Pennsylvania, USA ~ Popular bandleader with a career spanning nearly seven decades from the late-1930s until shortly before his death. Known for bringing Doris Day to prominence with the 1945 recording of Sentimental Journey. Has also worked with Bob Hope, Tony Bennett, Connee Boswell, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nat King Cole ~ Brown passed away in 2001
March 14, 1911 ~ Jazz, pop accordionist, organist, singer Joe Mooney born in Paterson, New Jersey, USA ~ Went blind around 10 years of age. Recorded with his brother Dan Mooney in the late-1920s as the Sunshine Boys and the Melotone Boys. Played piano with Frank Dailey, and with Buddy Rogers in the late-1930s. Arranged for Paul Whiteman, Vincent Lopez, Larry Clinton, and for the Modernaires through the early-1940s. Started his own quartet in 1943. Sang with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra in the 1950s ~ Mooney passed away in 1975
March 14, 1907 ~ Songwriter, lyricist Edward Heyman born in New York, New York, USA ~ Co-wrote a number of standards including Body And Soul (Bert Ambrose, Ruth Etting, Billie Holiday), I Cover The Waterfront (Abe Lyman, Eddy Duchin, Sarah Vaughan), For Sentimental Reasons (Kay Kyser, Mildred Bailey, the Ink Spots), I Wanna Be Loved (Don Redman, the Andrews Sisters, Dinah Washington), Easy Come Easy Go (Johnny Green, Russell Garcia, Anita O'Day), and Blame It On My Youth (Freddy Martin, the Dorsey Brothers, Mabel Mercer) ~ Heyman passed away in 1981